Sports & Recreation

Best View From a Running Track

Stinchcomb-Groth

It hurts getting to the top of Stinchcomb-Groth, the clumsily named peak that juts out the side of Hogsback Hill in the Metroparks' Rocky River Reservation. Stinchcomb is short but steep, and many a runner has bailed out before the top -- or skipped the side trip entirely. It's a mistake, because the view is tremendous. The quarter-mile loop at the top reaches its highest point at the edge of the cliff, and from that point you can see farther than you ever imagined: Rocky River, Lakewood, Fairview Park, Cleveland, the muddy little river, and the statuesque Hilliard Bridge. You'll understand again why you run and, perhaps, why you live in Cleveland.